Editor's Report

The Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association (AAIA)
recently published the results of a study conducted late last year. The
purpose of the study was to analyze the attitudes and perceptions of
consumers who use professional service providers as well as those who
maintain their own vehicles. The results of the study provide more than
just interesting reading for a shop owner. They provide valuable insight
into consumers’ psyches that will help you serve existing customers
better and attract new ones at the same time.

The AAIA report classifies all consumers into one of two
major categories: Do It Yourself (DIY) or Do It For Me (DIFM), each
further broken down into a series of subcategories. Someone is
considered a DIFM consumer if he performs no service at all to his own
vehicle, while someone is classified a DIYer if he performs any service
or maintenance at all on his own vehicle. Surprisingly, 22% of the
people surveyed for the study are considered DIFM. In other words, the
study found that nearly one in four consumers doesn’t even add
windshield washer fluid or top off the engine’s antifreeze. Thankfully,
only 1% of respondents said they had no work at all done on their cars
in the past 12 months!

Some other noteworthy findings from the study:

89% of all consumers reported they had some type of
professional service done on their vehicles in the past year. The most
common was an oil change (72%), followed by tire replacement or rotation
(64%), air filter replacement (43%) and windshield wiper fluid
replacement (24%).

77% of all consumers said they performed some type of
service on their vehicles in the past 12 months. Most common here were
adding windshield wiper fluid (66%), replacing wiper blades (44%),
adding antifreeze (35%) and replacing the air filter (29%).

The largest single subcategory is the DIY “light”
segment, equaling 28% of all consumers. As the name implies, these are
consumers who perform very little DIY work. These people tend to be
older and show a much higher tendency to take their vehicles to a
dealership for service than DIYers, who do more of their own work.

55% of DIFM consumers have had a dealership perform
maintenance or repairs on their vehicles in the past 12 months, compared
to only 32% of DIYers. Conversely, 27% of DIYers have patronized a
general repair shop, while only 23% of DIFM consumers have.

Despite differences in their preference for the type of
shop they use, the reasons both DIY and DIFM consumers choose a shop are
surprisingly similar. When given a choice of 13 influencing factors,
both groups selected Quality of Service as the number one reason to
select a shop. Cost of Service ranked a distant seventh behind other
factors such as Past Experience with Service Provider, Existence of
Service Guarantee, Speed of Service and Convenient Shop Location. Dead
last in the list of factors were Availability of Discount Coupons and
Advertisement.

86% of all consumers said they own at least one
automotive tool like a battery charger or grease gun, but only 4%
reported owning an OBD code reader.

While females represent nearly half (43%) of the DIY
crowd, they account for a larger percentage (61%) of DIFM consumers.

Among the DIY group, only 38% are over 55 years old,
compared to 56% of the DIFM group.

All of these statistics are important. They give a shop
owner insight into today’s consumers and how they decide where to have
their vehicles serviced. They also point us to opportunities. For
example, when we see that older Americans are more likely to use a
dealership for their cars’ repair and service needs (and we know that
the population is aging), it’s apparent that we need to try and attract
an older clientele. When we’re shown that women are much more likely
than men to utilize professionals for vehicle service, it becomes
obvious that we need to operate a business that encourages female
customers. And when we see that there are a half-dozen factors more
important to a consumer than low price, we understand the need to avoid
trying to grow our business based on discounted services.